Just another side note (not part of the blog itself): Thank you to everyone in Belize that made our trip so wonderful. From the flight crews to the resort staff, the SeaDuced cat crew (we went snorkeling with them), and the restaurant and bar staffs (all of the food and services we received were fantastic) and above all the general population (very welcoming).

Belize, you have my admiration! Can't wait to do it again.

Now on to the blog post:

Monday, June 16, 2008

Another Day in Paradise

You've Just Gotta Belize It

Yet another day has passed and with NO regrets. This place offers more than a person can handle. We've all heard the old addage, early to bed early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise; right? Well, here in Belize it should be stay awake as long as you can or else you just might miss something man!

Here's the scoop for the day. We came down as a group and do many things as a group together. At other times we break off into smaller sattelite groups to do our own thing - we truly are individuals. O.k. the gig at Banana Beach (bananabeach.com) finished up late last night (what a blast), then we slept for a couple of hours before Kerry, Terrie and Max had to get up and at 'em for a full day on the mainland. The rest of us stayed right here on the Island Bonita to play all day in the sun.

The report from the mainland touring group (Terrie's version): We had to get up way toooooo early considering last night was soooooo late, but was it ever worth it! We caught a Tropic Air flight (tropicair.com) to the mainland then took a taxi to Jaguar Paw resort. During the flight the pilot flew low so we could look at all the lobster fishermen going out for their first catch of the season since it is their opener. That was so cool. While on the ride to Jaguar Paw resort (jaguarpaw.com) we had an opportunity to learn about some of the cultures and view first hand some of the living conditions of the people here. Our guide, Miguel, was all too happy to share his knowledge with us, telling us about some of the different villages (Mennonite, Japanese, Amish, etc.) as well as of the vegetation and animal life that we asked about.

Once we arrived at the resort we met our other guide for the cave tubing, Pablo. Miguel and Pablo brought us down to the river to get our tubes and to brief us on what to expect on our excursion. We had a short hike in the jungle to the beginning of the tubing route. During the hike the guides told us some folklore stories and would point out items of interests such as the turantula right there in that hole you are about to step in front of. At one point I asked Miguel "what is that big prickely yellow plant right there". His response, "that's a prickely yellow". He said it with such conviction it made me wonder why I hadn't already known that. I mean come on, it's prickely and yellow therefore it must be a prickely yellow, right. Makes perfect sense. We had a good laugh at that one.

When we reached the point of entry the guides informed us that the water would be quite refreshing (code for frickin' cold). It must have felt terribly cold because of the physical exertion of the hike because once I acclimated to the water I absolutely loved it. We went through 2 caves. Thank God we had head lamps as the caves were quite dark at some points (duh, it's a cave). The caves were beautiful. One was called crystal cave and it was very apparent why. It absolutely glistened in the light. Wish you were there to see and experience this with us.

After the cave tubing we were treated to an awesome lunch, the local dish of stewed chicken with rice and beans. We spent some time exploring the resort. The owner of Jaguar Paw rehabilitates hurt and orphaned animals so we were able to have wonderful, up close encounters with kutamundi and with a baby howler monkey. Several of the kutamundi were running around the lodge and having lunch of their own (tropical fruit plate). The howler monkey grabbed my hand and required me to scratch his neck. He leaned around the tree branch he was sitting in and tried to give me a kiss (uhhhh thanks, but no). There was an awesome butterfly santuary. Blue marples, glass wings, bright yellow and black butterflies, what a treat for the eyes! Then it was off to go zip lining on the Arial Trek.

O.k., so I am not afraid of heights, but I am afraid of falling. Add to that the fact that I am a control freak and "they" want me to do what? Climb here, clip there, hold this and grab that, have a seat and brake only when told. Ready? Off you go! "Do I have toooooooooooooooo" - "WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA" - "Son of a ..............................." - "Whew, I survived" - "can I do it again, pretty please????????" Needless to say, I fell in love with all those cables, clips, hard hats, gloves, platforms, trees, the jungle in general and above all the guides. They were awesome (and not bad to look at either).

We were no sooner done ziplining when it was time to head back to the airport to head back to San Pedro, to eat dinner (always an excellent adventure), to get ready for the next Fat Cat gig. FUN FUN FUN! Next year it's your turn!

Submitted and written by Terrie Boyd Wife of Lead Guitarist Kerry Boyd